Automotive vehicles include many electrical systems, such as lighting, signaling, instrumentation and engine control. Networks of wires and cables, which run throughout the vehicle, generally interconnect these electrical systems. Each of these electrical subsystems includes numerous electrical components, such as fuses, relays and connectors. In some vehicles, the fuses and relays are distributed throughout the vehicle. Other vehicles have many of the wires and cables routed through an electrical junction box, which houses most or all of the fuses and relays in the vehicle. In this manner, the electrical junction box can be considered as a container for electrical junctions.
As the electronics in vehicles increases, the space provided to house all of the fuses and relays becomes more limited. The junction boxes may also be oriented in any direction from vertical to horizontal. In addition, as the junction boxes are mounted in vehicles, the junction boxes and the fuses and relays are subjected to conditions such as vibration, which may cause the electrical connection between the fuses and relays and the mating components to be ineffective. It is therefore important that the relays and fuses be maintained in electrical contact with the mating components over time.
In order to provide for such a secure connection, covers may be applied to the junction box. One example of known junction boxes comprises a body having electrical parts (such as relays and fuses) mounted thereon and a cover attached to a lower surface of the body. A plurality of elastically-deformable lock piece portions are formed on and project from the body, and lock portions, corresponding respectively to the lock piece portions, are formed at the cover. The lock piece portions are elastically deformed to be retainingly engaged with the lock portions respectively, thereby connecting the cover to the lower surface of the body in a united manner. The cover cooperates with the relays and fuses to maintain the relays and fuses in proper electrical engagement. However, covers are often difficult to access particularly in confined spaces, thereby making difficult the repair and/or replacement of the fuses or relays.
Alternatively, a number of locking terminals may be provided to cooperate with the terminals of the relay or fuse to lock them in position relative to the junction box. Examples of such electrical junction boxes consist of relay terminals, housing members having receiving cavities formed therein for receiving the relay terminals, circuit bodies having mating terminals which mate with the relay terminals, and locking means provided on the relay terminals for locking the relay terminals in the receiving cavities of the housing members. However, such junction boxes suffer from various deficiencies, including the unreliably of the connection over time as the relays can become disassembled.
It would, therefore, be beneficial to provide a junction box in which the fuse and relays are properly positioned and maintained in a secure electrical engagement with the mating components regardless of the orientation and the placement of the junction box. In addition, it would be beneficial to provide a securing mechanism which can be accessed in confined spaces and which allows for the ease of repair and/or replacement of the fuses or relays.